13 Clarke County schools make AYP

Thirteen public schools in Athens met benchmarks for academic performance this year, the Clarke County School District said this afternoon.

The finding is based on a state Department of Education report on how many schools across Georgia made “adequate yearly progress” under the federal No Child Left Behind law.

Last year, 10 of the 21 schools in Clarke County made AYP, a formula used to determine how well schools are doing on several achievement indicators, such as math, reading and graduation rates. In 2008, just three Clarke schools made AYP.

“This year’s AYP results are the culmination of much hard work, and I commend teachers, administrators parents and students,” Superintendent Philip Lanoue said in the release. “We implemented several new strategies this year, and the results are clear — more students did, in fact, master the rigorous Georgia Performance Standards.”

Nine other district schools, including Clarke Central and Cedar Shoals High Schools and Classic City High, the district’s non-traditional high school, did not make AYP. Also missing the mark were Clarke, Hilsman and Burney-Harris-Lyons Middle Schools and Alps Road and Whit Davis Elementary Schools.

Across the district, students made large gains this year in nearly every subject and grade level on the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test and High School Graduation Test, according to school district administrators.

For example, every elementary and middle school in the district met standards in reading, with 86 percent of students passing standards on the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test, compared to 80 percent of students last year.

In order for schools to achieve AYP this year, a higher percentage of students regardless of race, poverty and disability had to pass tests in reading and math, and the required graduation rate for high schools was increased from 75 percent to 80 percent.

This year, more Clarke County students were able to earn a diploma, with 69 percent of students graduating on time compared to 63 percent last year.

More schools still could make AYP later this fall, once the state Department of Education factors in the results of retests and summer graduation.